How to watch MLB on Kodi and the best MLB Kodi add-ons for 2017

The 2017 MLB season just kicked off and is now in full swing. For cord cutters who don’t have a cable subscription, MLB on Kodi is a great alternative to your local cable provider for watching live games on a wide range of devices. Kodi is a free and open-source home theater software that allows you to install add-ons that draw streaming links from a large number of sources.

In this guide, we’ve mentioned several different Kodi add-ons. All of the add-ons we’ve mentioned are popular. We focus our attention on the best add-ons that provide official streams for MLB on Kodi, while we also explore some of the other popular options that you may see listed elsewhere.

At this time of writing, all add-ons we recommend offer their content legally. We encourage you to determine which streams are legally available for you before trying to access any Kodi add-ons, whether they’re ones we’ve recommended or not.

Comparitech does not condone or encourage any violation of copyright restrictions, including illegal streaming through Kodi. Kodi can be used for many excellent, legal online streaming purposes. Please consider the law, victims, and risks of piracy before downloading or streaming copyrighted material without permission.

Games will be broadcast by five national networks in the US:

Regular season

Sunday: TBS and ESPN

Monday: ESPN and ESPN2

Wednesday: ESPN and ESPN2

Thursday: MLB Network

Saturday: Fox

In Spanish: Fox Deportes, ESPN Deportes, and TBS SAP CNN en Espanol

All-star and Post-season

All-Star Game: Fox

American League Wild Card Game: ESPN

American League Division Series: Fox Sports 1, TBS, and MLB Network

National League Wild Card Game: TBS

National League Division Series: TBS

American League Championship Series: Fox, Fox Sports

National League Championship Series: TBS

World Series: Fox

But before you start streaming live baseball games on Kodi, make sure you have a VPN.

Why you should use a VPN with Kodi

Whether you’re using official or unofficial add-ons, the reasons for making us of a VPN with Kodi are pretty much the same. All Kodi add-ons, including official ones, can come with a privacy and security risk. These add-ons can be hijacked by hackers and used to infiltrate your computer system.

Additionally, if you’re outside of the US trying to gain access to some of the content in these add-ons, there’s a good chance that you’ll meet geographic content blocking. Many content providers do this because they do not have streaming deals outside of the US. However, using a VPN can allow you to legally bypass those content blocks.

Importantly, many ISPs also impose speed throttling for video streams. This is becoming a problem in many countries, especially the US. If you want to avoid buffering due to speed throttling from your ISP, using a VPN will mask where you’re streaming from, making it so that your ISP does not know you’re using data to stream video.

For these reasons, we always strongly recommend using Kodi with a VPN. We can confirm that all the add-ons we’ve tested work with IPVanish, which is a favorite with the Kodi community thanks to fast speeds and excellent privacy features.

A VPN encrypts all of your Kodi device’s streaming traffic and routes it through an intermediary server in a location of your choosing. This prevents your ISP and any other entity from snooping on your activity and hides your real IP address from anyone on the opposite end of the connection. VPNs can also protect you from man-in-the-middle attacks, as well as other hacker-related issues.

Best official add-ons to watch MLB on Kodi in 2017

There are a number of official Kodi add-ons that deliver high-quality MLB content. Depending on the options you choose, you can get some games for free, or get MLB on Kodi through different paid streaming services.

MLB.tv Kodi Addon

If you have an MLB.tv subscription, you can access your account directly on Kodi using the MLB.tv add-on. You will find a version of this addon in the Official Kodi Add-on Repository, but can also find it in the eracknophobia’s Repo.To utilize this add-on correctly, you’ll need to make sure to add in your credentials. To do that, right click (or long press for Amazon Fire TV users) on the add-on’s icon or name, and then click on Settings.

From there, you can enter your username and password. Note that there appears to be a “Single Team / Free Game Subscription” option. With an MLB.tv subscription, you’ll can purchase a yearly pass for all games offered by MLB.tv, or for a single team.

MLB.tv also offers a “free game of the day” which is available for anyone. You can access that free game by turning on the Free Game Subscription option in Kodi.

PlayStation Vue

If you have a PlayStation Vue account, you can get access to the primary channels that offer up MLB content: FOX Sports 1, FOX (over-the-air), TBS, and ESPN. The cheapest PlayStation Vue package ($39.99 a month), offers up these channels and more.

With a PlayStation Vue account secured, you can also stream your account through Kodi using the PS Vue add-on. This add-on can be found in the Official Kodi Add-on Repository.

To effectively use your PS Vue account on the add-on, you’ll need to add your credentials in the settings first. Otherwise, attempting to load the add-on will cause it to crash. You can add your credentials by right clicking (or long pressing for Amazon Fire TV users) on the add-ons name or icon, and then clicking on Settings. Enter your username and password from there.

Sportsnet Now

If you have a Sportsnet Now account, you can access MLB games for the Toronto Blue Jays (and any other teams that the play, as well). Sportsnet Now is a Canadian TV network. While you’ll be limited to only Blue Jays games, you will also get World Series games.

Sportsnet Now can only be purchased if you are a Canadian resident, but if you are a resident traveling out of the country, you may also be able to access your account through a VPN as well. Sportsnet Now costs $24.99CAD, with a 7-day free trial offered.

Sportsnet Now can be accessed on Kodi through an app available in the Official Kodi Add-on Repository.

Fox Sports Go

FOX Sports Go is similar to MLB.tv and Sportsnet Now in that it’s a sports streaming option that you can access through a Kodi add-on. If you have a FOX Sports Go account, you’ll simply need to log in to it through the FOX Sports Kodi add-on. From there, you’ll be able to live stream MLB on Kodi as long as there’s a game available.

FOX Sports Go is only available to those who already have a TV streaming subscription that includes FOX Sports channels. That can include regular cable subscriptions, PlayStation Vue, FuboTV, Sling, or others that include FOX channels in the channel package.

You’ll find the Fox Sports Go add-on available through the Official Kodi Add-on Repository.

USTVNow Plus

With USTVNow, anyone can get access to MLB on Kodi for a large number of games. The free option comes with FOX, while the $19 a month plan also comes with ESPN. You can catch any games available through the OTA FOX channel or ESPN with the paid plan.

USTVNow Plus is a legal option that anyone can use. Although the service is specifically designed for US military and expats, anyone with a VPN can access the service, including US citizens currently in the country and not traveling overseas.

There is a version of this add-on available on the Official Kodi Add-on Repository. However, that version is not the most updated one. To learn more about USTVNow, including installation instructions, click here to access our installation guide.

Unofficial Kodi add-ons for MLB live streaming

There are a large number of unofficial Kodi add-ons being used by millions of Kodi users streaming MLB games. Although these add-ons are indeed “free,” they earn this status by using pirated streams. The following add-ons are not recommended for streaming purposes due to using pirated streams.

You may find these add-ons recommend on other sites, however, we recommend that you utilize the options listed above in the official add-ons section instead. Below, we’ve explained what these add-ons do, how they pirate streams, and why we believe you should avoid them.

Made in Canada

What it is: Made in Canada is an IPTV Kodi add-on that is popularly used for mostly Canadian, US and UK live TV broadcasts. Although this add-on is widely used, its method of providing live content is illegal in most places. Even the over-the-air network options are not official through this add-on.

Why should you avoid it? We do not recommend the Made in Canada IPTV Kodi add-on because it uses pirated streams to offer content. Although using the add-on may not be illegal in some countries, its method of pulling in pirated streams ignores content owners rights to their own broadcasts. Instead of Made in Canada, we recommend users turn to any of the legal options listed in the official add-ons section, which will provide better quality.

Note that your streaming through Made in Canada should be done in a way to avoid pirated streams. This add-on has a number of pirated streams made available to users. Ensure that you have a right to access any content available in MiC.

cCloud TV

What it is: cCloud TV is one of the more popular IPTV Kodi add-ons because it offers up thousands of live channels. Nevertheless, the vast majority of the channels offered through cCloud TV are pirated. This holds true particularly for MLB games. cCloud TV pulls in pirated streams from all over the world.

Why should it be avoided? Simply put, cCloud TV has no redeeming qualities for those looking for legitimate MLB content. We do not recommend cCloud TV because it specializes in pirated content. As one of the largest pirated streaming services, cCloud TV may come up on the recommended lists for many other sites. However, this add-on is poorly supported, alongside hosting mostly pirated streams. Streaming quality is poor, if you can even find a working stream. You’ll be better served with one of the legal options listed above.

Please avoid any pirated streams available on this addon. Legal streaming options exist here and are quite easy to find.

SportsAccess

What it is: SportsDevil was once the reigning king of live sports streaming on Kodi, but it has since gone downhill with many users complaining of broken links. Additionally, SportsAccess charges for access to their streams, and only deals in Bitcoin, making it a somewhat shady operation at best.

Why should you avoid it? If you’re going to pay for content to sports streams, SportsAccess is one of the worst places to turn. Not only is streaming through here inconsistent, it’s highly illegal in many places, particularly because SportsAccess is selling pirated content, whereas even the other unofficial options offer that same content for free. We do not recommend SportsAccess for any streaming purposes. A Sling TV account, for example, would be a better option, considering you can utilize Fox Sports Go on Kodi and gain access to the FOX Sports service after purchasing a Sling TV account for only $20 a month.

SmoothStreams

What is it? The Kodi SmoothStreams addon is a large IPTV service that is known for offering high-quality streams, as well as having a large volume of them. That said, SmoothStreams does not offer legal streaming options. Instead, streams are pirated. Access to those pirated streams is then sold to users, making this service one you’ll want to avoid.

Why should you avoid it? The problem with SmoothStreams is the same as with SportsAccess. Although it seems legitimate due to charging for access, the streams you’re getting are all pirated and not from the legitimate sources. SmoothStreams does not have the rebroadcasting rights. With that in mind, we do not recommend SmoothStreams for Kodi users. Instead, the legal options will provide a better streaming option.